Notre Dame Research Paper

Words: 1457
Pages: 6

It was the year 2011 and I just graduated from High School and got the greatest graduation present ever, a trip to Europe! Most call me spoiled, but I was incredibly grateful for this opportunity. Let the planning begin: First stop on the trip was Paris, France. Of course I wanted to see the Elfie Tower and eat French bread and French fries at a café in Paris, but I also had something else in mind. My number one must see on my list was to visit Notre Dame. Ever since seeing the Disney movie, “The Hunchback of Norte Dame”. When I was little I would say, “I want to see where Quasimodo lived”. This was my chance to finally get to see where he lived and explore it.
Time was getting closer to the big trip and I decided I need to prepare for the
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When I started researching I learned so much about it’s rich history and what I was going to expect when visiting Notre Dame. I learned that it really is called Notre Dame de Paris, which means “Our lady of Paris”, but normally people refer to it as Notre Dame Cathedral, but mainly people just called it Notre Dame. Notre Dame sits on an island called, Île de la Cité in Paris, France, which is known as the religious center of the city. Being over 800 years old Notre Dame is nearly 130 meters long, 48 meters wide and 35 meters high. Taking over 200 years for it to be completed and the construction of the cathedral started in 1163 and ended in 1345. Built in gothic style under the bishop at the time named Maurice de sully and it was during the reign of King …show more content…
Just before I walked in to this magnificent cathedral I thought to my self that if this cathedral is this great on the outside it must look spectacular on the inside and it was. I walked in it was it felt like angels were singing as it was like I was being serenaded as I walked through its portal. I’ve never had a feeling like that before in the many churches and cathedrals I have been in. I stood there for a while until the guide takes us to the side to tell us about the things were seeing. Honestly it was hard to pay attention to what the guide was saying because I was still in awe of what I was looking at. It was almost over whelming in a way because there is so much to look at. From the pillars to the statues, glass stained windows, paintings to the arches above. I kept looking at the glass stained windows that wrap around the top floor and filled all the way down to the bottom. There was so much natural light coming in during the daytime it was like they didn’t need the lights on from the hanging chandeliers throughout the cathedral. When the light came through the stained glass windows it landed on the stone walls making the walls look like it was painted gold. The cathedral was lined with pillars that were detailed to a tee from top to bottom. Then we were given a map